Places I DON'T like in Los Angeles

Okay, let's get negative. Tell us how you REALLY feel about bad places, especially the ones that for some strange reason are popular and referred to a lot. I'm curious to see what replies trickle in here. If you don't have anything nice to say about a place, tell us anyway.
I'll start listing the stinkers I can think of a little later. There are so many...
-Scott Lindgren

Okay, well I'll start out with something not totally negative but more of a tepid opinion. I don't think if you just order straight off the menu at In-N-Out that it's any better than, say, a Five Guys. If you don't order your fries extra crispy and do something interesting with the burger, like animal style, it's not worth the hosannas. I visit my mom out there and sometimes don't go to In-N-Out. That being said, it still beats the pants off any other national chain burger out there, and they're a wonderful corporate citizen. So there ya go.

Yes, I agree about In-N-Out, I don't know why folks praise these guys so much. To me, it's just another too thin, burnt patty, nothing special about it. Any decent burger I can name will be in a sit-down, have the waiter take the order type operation, where I can get dijon mustard, etc. Hamburger Hamlet was good a long time ago, when there were 23 choices, but no more. They've committed menu suicide recently. I do wish there were Maid-Rites and Krystals in LA, those two are at least...different.
-SL

I've said it before and I'll say it again
Burgers in LA-nothing special and no different from the rest of the Country [|)][|)][|)]

On a positive note
Juice Bars and Sushi Parlors are the way to go- Pure Roadfood LA Style!

Oh, I missed Nancypalooza's comment about In-N-Out being a wonderful corporate citizen. Look into the recent history of the operation. Of course years ago I knew about the Christian aspect, just look at the bottom of their cups. This might easily offend those who don't bow to the cross. Some years ago, the two top executives, who were never supposed to fly together, violated their own promise and were killed in a crash. I think this was the beginning of major corporate trouble, as a young woman who married into the business began a power grab, wresting control away from the widow of the founder. Lots of fighting has ensued, with great bitterness all around. Wonderful corporate citizen? In what way?
-SL

Wanderingjew is correct. How could a burger in LA be in any way different or better than one in Manhattan? What, fresher lettuce?
-SL

In that they are consistently singled out, along with Costco, as being a place that pays a living wage even down to starting counter help. They really do what they purport as far as the fresh meat, fresh potatoes, that stuff. I actually never noticed the Christiany stuff, and that's something I would notice, but then I've probably only been in four stores my whole life.

quote:

Originally posted by lone nut

Wanderingjew is correct. How could a burger in LA be in any way different or better than one in Manhattan? What, fresher lettuce?
-SL

That is one thing I'll never knock. If I lived in Southern California, I would eat Salads every day. The veggie's out there are absolutely outstanding!

For fast-food burgers I much prefer Fatburger. If only they'd use dill pickles instead of those nasty sweet things, and sliced onions instead of chopped!

For upscale, I tried the burgers at "The Counter" and was bowled over.

In-N-Out is no better than McDonalds, etc., IMHO.

I'm a little surprised no one has ripped on Pink's hot dogs or Cassell's burgers, yet.

Buffetbuster brings up a couple good targets. Pink's does not deserve the attention it receives on the web, TV coverage, press, etc. It's always crowded because of the publicity. The chili is really greasy, and the dogs are sub-par. The only seating includes tables you have to clean before you sit down. You might be in line for 20 minutes. They are famous for being famous. I've said this over and again: Chili John's in Burbank, oldest place in that town, ca. 1919. Great chili, finely chopped beef rather than ground, dogs with great snap, made to their specs with a spice packet of their own, and you can sit at a clean counter. Indoors. Free refills on sodas. In a real glass. The only place I go for chili dogs. They close during July and August.
Cassell's I don't know, had one years ago, don't recall it, but I have read a lot of unhappy reports about the place that keep me away. Photos I've seen do not entice.

Here's a USA weekly article mentioned on a previous thread
As you can see, burgers, hotdogs and chili are not mentioned for LA
www.usaweekend.com/07_issues/070520/070520travel.html

I don't buy hot dogs anywhere...much less over-priced and "stand in line to get"- hot dogs. So I can't get into the squabble over what is better than Weiner-Dude.

I am a fan of Farmer Boys, even though the rapid expansion of the local chain seems to have had a negative effect on the quality of the products being served. I am sending my taste-tester (Janet) out to the Inland Empire to do an update on the quality there in a couple of weeks.

However since you asked about PLACES...and didn't limit the choices to food places, let me mention a place (or places) that irritate the hell out of me. The Toll-Road System that has been developed in the Orange County area (and nearby counties. Now I am not opposed to toll roads per se, but I think it is/was really dumb not to try to get the visitors to that part of SoCal to help pay for the roads by charging them to use the roads too. For those not familiar with the system... In order to use the express lanes of the 91 or related highways you must "subscribe" to the toll-service and mount an electronic device in you car which communicates with a 'reader' at the toll-booths to permit the system to bill you for that particular trip on the toll road. Tourists or other non-subscribers cannot elect to use the toll road as there is no way to use cash to allow access. On some of the other toll roads a booth on the right side will allow cash transactions (dollar-coins only...no bills, no change)
Needless to say there is a hot "blackmarket" in the sale of stolen transponders that then cause one's toll bill to reflect the use by the thieves. Oddly enough several fast food restaurants have installed transponder readers to bill the user for any Big Macs picked up as the car goes thru the drive-thru lane...no cash needed. Again the victim pays for the thieves appetite !!

OK.. Thats my gripe on the SoCal roadways.

Food places seem to come and go quicker in the L A area than any other place in the USA. Keeping up with the good ones is really a full time job !!

quote:

How could a burger in LA be in any way different or better than one in Manhattan? What, fresher lettuce?

That's exactly right. For years, California had a huge advantage over much of the rest of the country in freshness of its ingredients. Even today, you'll still find even busy places like McDonald's serving brown lettuce in the Midwest.

The other advantage Southern California has in its burgers IMO is the abundance of garnishes usually served. No sit down place in LA I know of serves a mere bun with a patty and a slithering of mustard and ketchup like can be found in cafes around other parts of the country outside of the South. As in the South, the frequent use of mayo in So Cal also helps IMO to give a richer burger experience.

quote:

Thats my gripe on the SoCal roadways.

Oh, come on. You can think of much more than that!

Al-the-Mayor is correct about Farmer Boys. I've lived in the dirtiest part of Downtown LA since '85, and we were all delighted when Farmer Boys came in. I could walk there. Things have really slipped, and like Bob's Big Boy, it all depends on who owns the place at any given moment. I would imagine the stores in the Inland Empire might be 100% better than the current one here on Alameda St. My girlfriend and I are dismayed that FB has dropped their taco, one of the better ones around here.
As for the toll roads, his gripe makes sense to me. I know there has been a lot of anger about the "no cash" insanity. I know the system in Dallas had you mount the transponder on the inside of the windshield, right where it can be seen. Right next to the inspection and this year's registration stickers! I heard about lots of windshields being completely removed from cars for all this booty. I suppose the thieves then sold the glass after removing what they wanted.
Since A-t-M-B has slyly interpreted this as a wide open bellyache-about-LA topic, which I like, let me say a few words about what sort of fire I've tried to start here. Feel free to try putting it out with gasoline, if you can afford it.

I got chewed out recently for being "poor lone nut... so unhappy", and I was told to "be happy". Screw that. I'm tired of all-the-time positive. I wanna hear people vent, flame, get it off their chests. And really, there is a higher (and positive) purpose here, which is this: We hear so much about worthless touristy joints like Pink's, Farmer's Market (3rd St & Fairfax) etc, I want to see real serious slamming of the overhyped, and while I know there are plenty of folks who think they like places that really don't deserve the attention, that is probably because they don't know any better, and I think this forum might be a good way to point in a better direction, and steer the innocent from the wrong path.

More indictments to come!

-Scott Lindgren

OK Since I made the move to step outside the 'food world', we will consider moving this thread off the "where to eat" forum and down to the Misc gripes and other stuff forum.
More to follow

I tried Farmer Boys in Anaheim a few times and I hate to say----lousy burgers, nothing to entice me to come back. Overcooked too.
The worst "hot place" in LA IMHO is El Coyote on Beverly. Always packed----an "in" place----the margaritas are OK but nothing special. Before I stopped going there completely I tried to avoid things like the tostadas, topped with canned (yes, you read that right-----CANNED) green beans. Run of the mill food----I did much better at King Buritto a few blocks away.

Well, Al-the-Mayor-Bowen wants to move this to a misc. gripes page. Maybe there should be a forum "Where Should I NOT Eat?"

Ed Sails is correct about El Coyote. The food is a lot better at El Cholo. You can however sit in the same booth at El Coyote where Sharon Tate ate her last enchilada.

quote:

Originally posted by Voyageur That's exactly right. For years, California had a huge advantage over much of the rest of the country in freshness of its ingredients. Even today, you'll still find even busy places like McDonald's serving brown lettuce in the Midwest.

That's because McDonald's cut its teeth in Southern California. $1.5 BILLION to the Salvation Army is a good corporate citizen. Go to San Diego and find anything that's NOT named after Jane and Ray.

Seriously, I LIVE in the Midwest, and you're so thoroughly wrong it's mind boggling. Do you think McDonald's would stay busy if it served brown lettuce? Hello, McFly!

I DID live in California, and noticed four things:

• They're subsidised to grow things farmers in other parts of the country are paid NOT to grow.
• They used up all their groundwater in 1910. Go figure.
• That aquifier broke and more than 1000 casualties ended up in the Pacific with God knows how much water.
• the organic spinach that was recalled because people were getting sick off it came from guess where.

AND they elected Jerry Moonbeam Brown and Grayout Davis multiple times each. Fool me once . . .

If I were king, I'd make Southern California pay a fair price for the water it takes from the rest of the country, even other parts of California! There goes the incentive to waste it. If they can't hang, farmers from other parts of the country not only can, but do on a routine basis.

You want produce, get a hot dog, and be sure and ask for Chicago Style.

Big Ugly Mich, tell us how you really feel.

Sorry, I also live in the Midwest and have seen brown lettuce at McDonald's (no it wasn't all brown, of course). You routinely see produce that shows the time it takes to reach here in this part of the country.

As for McDonald's staying busy, surely you don't think the quality of the food is the main reason. Cleanliness, basic employee training, superb location picking, and above everything else outstanding marketing all play their roles.

BTW, "that aquifier" was the St. Francis dam designed by William Mulholland. Its break killed some 500 people, not 1,000.

Pinks is the worst hot dog joint in the USA
I do like EL Pollo Loco
If I had my way I'd eat at Cut in the Beverly Wilshire every night, if someone else would be kind enough to pick up the tab. $20.00 an oz. for Waygu beef !

In my opinion, the worst place I ever ate at while I was in LA (9 years) had to be Dan Tana's. Everybody raved about it, so we went. Lousy food, tiny tables with no room to move, lousy service. Just an all around bad experience. And I just saw something on the Food Network last night, they raved about it. Was not impressed and never went back.
Mike

Lucky,
That's quite a pairing up of restaurants-- The Beverly Wilshire... and El Pollo Loco !!! I think you may have a Bi-Polar streak in you somewhere!

I used to buy chicken at El Pollo Loco, but I would insist that it be "Well-Done" as a few times it would be chopped up ready to serve and you could see the pink juices and 'rare' bird. My fav. menu item was the Black Bean Bowl (w/flour tortillas!)

Another thing I do not like in SoCal (although I have seen it here in the Midwest also)... The freeway interchanges that make traffic coming onto the freeway cross the traffic trying to get off the freeway at the next ramp. The worst example of this, and one that caused me several near misses, was the interchange at the merging of the 215 and the 60 in Riverside. it is Horrible trying to look over your shoulder as you merge to the left coming onto the freeway, just as someone coming to the right at freeway speed trying to get into the off-ramp on the other side of the access lane.

Here in Louisville the interchange between I-71 south and I-265 is just like that. Coming off the 265 (from the nearby Costco) you need to merge left into the two lanes of the interstate. To get onto the 265 from I-71 you have to cut across the onramp traffic and slow to exit speed in time to make the off-ramp with a speed limit of 25 mph. Lots of merging collisions there !

Mayor Al, similiar situation in Nashville getting off I-65 North
(from "Huntsville", formerly "Birmingham") - onto I-40 East; if you want to
continue northbound, you have to cut across into the left lane and fast, since
the merge with I-24 is only 1/2 mile away - thankfully, one of the days we
picked to travel through there was a Sunday, when there wasn't much traffic!

quote:

. . . the worst example [of highly dangerous freeway design] . . . was the interchange at the merging of the 215 and the 60 in Riverside.

Considering that its first freeway opened around 1940, years ahead of most states, California has had more than ample time to learn to engineer better than that.

The worst freeway I've ever seen is the I-278 Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in New York City. Because of stop signs at the end of its onramps, you have to merge into traffic from a dead stop! There are no acceleration lanes.

Once place I was disappointed in was Cole's P.E. Buffet. Maybe I was expecting another Philippe's, but I didn't like anything about the place.

Too bad about Cole's P.E. Buffet. It used to be good. I wouldn't want to run a restaurant in that neighborhood.